Mr. Adams to Mr.
Seward.
No. 603.]
Legation of the United States,
London,
February 25, 1864.
Sir: I have to acknowledge the reception of
despatches from the department, numbered from 826 to 840, both
inclusive.
[Page 202]
I have executed the instructions contained in Nos. 827 and 836.
I have obtained a promise of an interview with Lord Russell this
afternoon, for the purpose of bringing to his attention the subjects
embraced in No. 830, No. 835, No. 837, and No. 839. I shall endeavor to
make a report to you thereon to-morrow.
I addressed a brief note to Lord Russell on transmitting to him a copy of
The Index, of the 18th instant, containing the same article sent to you
last week. A copy is herewith transmitted, and also his reply.
I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,
Hon. William H. Seward,
Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.
Mr. Adams to Earl Russell.
Legation of the United
States, London,
February 22, 1864.
My Lord: I beg permission to submit to your
consideration a copy of a journal called The Index, published in the
interest and under the direction of the emissaries of the insurgents
in London. On page 107 of this number there appears what purports to
be a letter from a person who was engaged in the enterprise started
in Canada to invade a portion of the territory of the United States.
It would seem, from the admissions made by this individual, that the
effort to make Canada the basis of an attack had been fully
sanctioned by the so-called authorities at Richmond, under the
pretence of exercising the right of passage through the territory.
It is almost needless to point out to your lordship the fraudulent
character of these operations, a feature so generally perceptible in
the proceedings of these same parties in foreign countries.
I pray your lordship to accept the assurances of the highest
consideration with which I have the honor to be, my lord, your most
obedient servant,
Right Hon. Earl Russell,
&c., &c.,
&c.
[Untitled]
The case of the Pampero.—On Tuesday, in
the court of exchequer, Edinburgh, Lord Ormidale pronounced an
interlocutor on the Pampero, the vessel which was seized on the
Clyde on the information to the effect that it was intended to
be fitted out and employed in the service of the Confederate
States of America. The defenders pleaded that the information
was bad in law, and called upon Lord Ormidale to decide, before
sending the case to a jury for trial, as to the relevancy of the
various counts in the information. Lord Ormidale, in his
interlocutor, appoints the case to be tried by a jury on
Tuesday, the 5th of April, and in a note appended to the
interlocutor says: “It appears to the lord ordinary that it is
unnecessary and inexpedient in this case to dispose of any
questions of law and relevancy before trial, and accordingly he
has followed the course which was adopted in the similar case of
the Alexandra in England. So far as the lord ordinary can judge
at present, the defenders will not be precluded, merely by the
case being appointed to be tried, from afterwards availing
themselves from any plea in law and relevancy which is in itself
well founded, but as the lord ordinary cannot prejudge any
matter whatever, so he can give no assurance on the subject. The
lord ordinary is not to be understood as holding that cases may
not occur where it would be proper, as well as competent, to
dispose of cases of law and relevancy before trial, although it
must always be desirable to avoid, where
[Page 203]
it can be done with a due regard to the
interest of the parties and the ends of justice, a double course
of litigation with the attendance of expense and delay. In
regard to the expediency in the present case in not disposing of
the questions of law and relevancy which have been raised by the
defenders there can be little doubt. According to the defenders’
own showing, the information is not wholly irrelevant; and even
as regards those parts of it to which the defenders’ objections,
as stated to the lord ordinary, apply, at least some of them may
be affected by the evidence at the trial. The defenders’
arguments on relevancy may possibly also be superseded by the
course which the case may take at the trial. Till, then, the
whole facts and circumstances of the case have been fully
disclosed at the trial, it would be unsafe, if not impossible,
to decide how far the information is or is not maintainable
under the statute on which it is laid.”
Earl Russell to Mr. Adams.
Foreign Office,
February 24, 1864.
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the
receipt of your note of the 22d instant, enclosing a copy of the
Index newspaper, containing an article relative to the late attempts
to release the confederate prisoners of war, confined at Johnson’s
island; and I have the honor to inform you that I have forwarded a
copy of your note to the colonial office.
I have the honor to be, with the highest consideration, sir, your
most obedient, humble servant,
Charles Francis Adams, Esq., &c., &c., &c.
